York College
‘ofsted’
John Mountford, AoC international director, defends colleges’ foreign recruitment In recent weeks criticism has been levelled at colleges for their hugely beneficial work abroad. This very paper reported a turn of phrase by Sir Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty’s chief inspector, which appeared to question the benefits of FE’s international work. In his speech to an […]
Opinion
Ofsted is looking at slashing 25 days off its time limit for accepting complaints about inspections and publishing reports even if a complaint has been lodged. A complaint can currently be made during an inspection or up to 30 days after a report comes out. But Ofsted is reviewing the procedure with a view to […]
News
Matthew Coffey, Ofsted’s national director for learning and skills, writes for FE Week about the issues raised for providers. It has been an eventful year for all of us involved in the FE and skills sector. In July, for example, we held our first learning and skills lecture at City and Islington College where the […]
Colleges could be at risk of focusing on international opportunities to the detriment of home-grown learners, Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has warned. The former head teacher and executive principal spoke on the dangers of foreign recruitment in FE at a conference organised by the Association of Colleges (AoC). His remarks came in an […]
A new Ofsted website measuring student satisfaction has entered the market, prompting concerns of a clash with the Skills Funding Agency’s £30m FE Choices site. Learner View, which went live in time for Ofsted’s 2012/13 inspections, draws together the opinions of students about their courses and comes up with provider ratings. Students are faced with […]
A Twitter ban at Sir Michael Wilshaw’s Ofsted conference was defended by organisers as a “courtesy to the press”. The clampdown on live information escaping Prospero House had already seen journalists barred from the event. The behind-closed-doors ruling was justified by Association of Colleges (AoC) communications director Ben Verinder as allowing contributors an “open and […]
Great teaching and learning, the third in a series of publications commissioned by the 157 Group and the Institute for Learning (IfL), has captured the mood of the sector to focus on high-quality teaching and learning and, we hope, steered a stimulating sector-wide debate. The first, Leading learning in further education, found that providers should […]
Ofsted have today published their delayed inspection report for NCG (formerly Newcastle College Group), reducing their overall grade from Outstanding to Good. FE Week reported in July that NCG had controversially cut the inspection short following what Dame Jackie Fisher, chief executive of NCG, referred in an internal email to staff as “some troubling incidents.” Since […]
Two more colleges have dropped a grade in recent Ofsted inspections. Bracknell and Wokingham College and Worcester College of Technology were both graded ‘satisfactory’ in Ofsted reports published last week, after having been awarded ‘good’ when inspected in 2009. In the breakdown of the overall grade both colleges received a mix of marks, with a […]
